When you have a kid. . .

I’ve been in high tech for more years than I care to state here. Hell, I’m old enough to remember that a “minicomputer” was a device with 64KB of Ram or LESS. Yes, I’m “that” old!

But I also have a teenage son. My son is 14 and he informs me loudly and often that he knows more than me about technology. As if. But one has to remember that he is 14!

My son sure does know a lot! Maybe it is genetics. Maybe it is dumb luck. My son is the one that children and adults turn to for help when they get a virus or even have a hardware problem. For “fun” he has torn apart two old laptops. He did this to see how they worked. Yes, this is my lot in life — to have a kid outshining me.

How does all of this relate to making money with technology? A lot. Having a teen son makes me realize that technology is not just for business or “fun” any more. Technology is literally a part of “who he is.” It is as if he were born with ear buds firmly in place and a chip imbedded in his brain. My son begins high school this fall and his new school requires that every kid have an iPad®. No more school books for him! He will be using an interactive Algebra app from Pearson with animations and videos. Along with the book he has access to something called “MathXL” which will have him do his work online, check it for accuracy (no waiting for the teacher to grade it). If he gets “stuck” the app will lead him step by step through the solution. If he did need help then MathXL will present him with a new, similar problem, to see if he can do it “on his own.”

At this new school I can track my son’s grades daily, online. If he is missing an assignment he has no excuse of “I forgot it at school” because all will be in the iCloud.

Needless to say, Apple and Pearson (and a few others) are all making money — mostly from a subscription SaaS (software as a service) model. I must say I’m impressed with the concept. Later I’ll tell you how well the reality stacks up to the hope / hype. Still, the use of an iPad and Internet at a very mainstream school just goes to show that technology is (more than ever) part of our lives — who we ‘are’ not just ‘what we do.’

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About Sandra Eisenberg

Dynamic pragmatic marketing and sales executive whose biggest asset is converting technology to real corporate value -- for a variety of industries including health care providers (Adventist Health System Sunbelt), Teradata (Data Warehousing), RWD Technologies (quality improvement and professional services), Siemens and AT&T (telecom).
Sandra brings twenty years of experience in sales, marketing and IT management. Her career spans entrepreneurial firms (E5 Marketing) and senior positions in sales, sales management (direct and indirect), marketing, channel development and product management at Bell Labs and NCR Teradata. A few career highlights:
• Total product lifecycle management (PLM) using ISO 9001 and other quality methodologies. Sunset aging product lines and developed a migration path to a new, open standards platforms at Avaya, NCR and Bell Labs.
• 1st woman to win the AT&T and NCR Teradata national sales awards -- top sales manager and sales rep at AT&T, NCR Teradata and Avaya
• Delivered profitable marketing campaigns in the area of CRM, Business intelligence, contact centers and other high tech areas
• Run call centers, sold call centers and been in product management of call centers (Avaya, AT&T and NCR)
• Director of CRM Strategic Planning and Alliances at Avaya and NCR Teradata
• Senior Manager of Product Management Bell Labs (business intelligence, data warehousing and CRM)
Most recently Sandra managed the Central Florida territory for Siemens' telephony division. Siemens is selling this division soon and their loss can be your gain.